


Shimmer

by Daovihi



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, MerMay, MerMay 2018, Mermaids, Other, Rating May Change, Warnings May Change, everythings the same but vr is a mermaid, mermaid!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 22:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14602965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daovihi/pseuds/Daovihi
Summary: It was pure chance that brought them together. One a child of the sea, another of centuries of pain and oppression. It was a splash that began their love.





	1. Chapter 1

"[One, two, three…]" He mumbled in his mother tongue, gathering up the seashells one by one. "[Oh, I do not have many at all. Four, five, six, seven… Seven. That seems like a decent number. For now.]"

With a flick of his tail, he uncovered his new hidey-hole. He stuffed his shells into it, then shuffled the sand back into place. After some thought, he grabbed a few rocks and stacked them atop the sand. He leaned back and stretched his arms, taking comfort in the security the dock provided him. His entire body is shielded by the shade, hiding him from any potential danger, along with his hidey-hole. 

"[Wonder how mom's doing…]" He pondered sadly. "[How long's it even been? Weeks? Months? I don't even remember anymore.]" He sighed, laying back on the sand. "[I miss my tribe.]"

Everything about this place was… off. It was cramped, dull, lifeless, where he would be lucky to find even a single shell. Instead, there were only smooth rocks that fit in the palm of his hand, but even then he couldn't find any signs of life. Well, except for the 'humans,' that it. Occasionally, one or two would come by and hang out by the river, as he learned it was called, and maybe even leave something behind if he was lucky. In fact, that was how he got the shells. Some humans left them behind after they had a meal together. Why anyone would waste some perfectly good shells was beyond him.

He frowned, exiting the shade. One of the worst parts about living here was that he rarely saw anyone, even the humans. That meant no one to meet, which meant no playing, which meant no friends. And the few that did come by acted so odd when he showed himself to them. He wasn't sure if this was just a surfacer thing, but he can't even get a word in before they start freaking out. He just didn't know how to handle that, so eventually he just stopped trying altogether.

He curled up into the sand and idly scattered a few grains across his chest. Things wouldn't be so bad if he could just have someone to play with, or at least something to do, but doing the same things over and over got so boring he often fell asleep while doing said things. There were only so many rocks in this river to find and so much to explore, after all.

As he was about to fall asleep for the eigth time that day, he felt a small ripple through the water that felt monumental in the still waters. His eyes shot to the… things poking through the water's surface near the dock. After a minute, he realized they were human feet. Did that mean someone wanted to play?

He approached the feet, observing their owner. The human was sitting with their legs over the side of the dock, hunched over and shaking. Their hand was covering their mouth, and a red hat covering one eye. Were they sad? After a moment, he decided they might just be upset. Better cheer them up, he thought as he swished his tail around.

\-----

Iorveth's lip trembled as he took off his shoes and dipped his feet into the water. He knew damn well he was crying over nothing, but he just couldn't stop himself. Not even the cool, soothing water made him feel any better. Iorveth pressed his hand to his mouth and choked back his sobs, feeling tears well up unbidden.

It was stupid. All that happened was that he broke one too many arrows, and now here he is, sobbing alone at an abandoned dock. He mentally beat himself up for being such a wimp, for being a crybaby as he wiped away his tears.

Without any warning, a humongous wave surged up in the path for Iorveth. He only had time to shriek before he was engulfed in water, the shock pushing him flat on his back. Iorveth rolled over and spat out the water, armor groaning in protest. He was absolutely dripping, and looked more like a wet rat than a fearsome elf in armor. Giggling bounced through the air, giving away the prescence of the one who committed the crime.

"Hi!" A blonde dhoine waved from in the water, grinning ear to ear. His hand, Iorveth noted, was an ashy shade of gray, and his nails were elongated and clearly sharpened to a piercing edge.

Hi, he says.

He drenched Iorveth to the point his armor's already a bit creaky, and he just says hi?!

"You feel any better?" He says, as thought he hadn't just conjured up an impossibly huge wave to attack Iorveth with.

"What the fuck?!" Iorveth's hand shot to his sword. "Why?!"

"Do you… not like being wet?" The dhoine tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, bringing a finger to his chin.

"That's not the fucking issue! You fucking splashed me so hard I fell!"

"I'm sorry." The dhoine lowered his head as he apologized. "I realized you were sad, so I tried to make you feel better."

That… was the first time a dhoine's ever apologized to him, Iorveth realized. "And you tried to make me feel better by splashing me?"

"I thought it wouldd be fun for you. I wanted you to not be sad, so I tried to play with you." The dhoine stated apologetically, surprising Iorveth with how sincere it sounded.

Iorveth let his hand drop from his sword. "What are you even doing here?"

"I… I guess I live here."

"Here?"

"Yes. Here."

"What do you mean here?"

"I mean I live here." The dhoine repeated.

"No, where is 'here'?"

"Here!" The dhoine drew out. "Does that word mean something different from what I think it does?"

"It means, uh," Iorveth paused, trying to think of a definition that didn't include said word. "It means in this place, with, uh, the place being relative to our location."

"Good. So I live here."

Iorveth groaned. "You know what, forget about it."

"I can't just… oh yeah, that's a saying." The dhoine mumbled the last bit. "So! Wanna play?"

"Play what?" Iorveth asked.

"I don't know. Anything!"

Iorveth smirked. "Maybe later. For now, why don't you come up here so we can talk?"

"Aw…" The dhoine pouted, even as he swam over to the dock. He stopped once he reached one of the support beams. "Help me up?"

Iorveth silently reached over the edge and took the dhoine's hands. Once he had a firm grip, he braced himself on the wood and pulled up with practised ease. Once the dhoine's upper body was up, he took him in a hug and pulled him the rest of the way up.

"Thank you!" The dhoine said once he was out of the water. He rolled out of Iorveth's laxing grip and onto the planks.

That's when Iorveth noticed it. The dhoine's lower body was not composed of normal human legs, but a scaly tail that shimmered in the sunlight. It started at what would be his waist, with a few blue scales peppered into his gray skin, and led into the fish-like tail, which was covered in the same scales throughout, except for a few spots where it appeared they were plucked out. His tail ended in what can only be described as a blue- and yellow-striped fin, which was curved in a manner more similar to a dolphin's than a fish.

"You're… you're a mermaid…" Iorveth gasped, eyes blowing wide open.

"No no no, please don't freak out, I just wanna be your friend!" The mermaid held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Please…" His face fell when Iorveth hesitated to answer, and his bottom lip trembled. "I… I haven't had a friend in so long…"

"Just… just give me a few seconds." Iorveth took a deep breath through his nose. "You're a mermaid."

The mermaid nodded, still looking like a kicked puppy. "That's what the other humans call me."

"The other humans?"

"Sometimes, people like you come by. They tend to freak out and run away before I can talk to them. You're actually the first one to stay this long."

Iorveth had no idea what to say to that. He patted the mermaid's shoulder instead, feeling slightly awkward at the contact. "So, what's your name?"

\-----

"My… my name?"

"Yes, your name. As in what you call yourself."

That gave him pause. Why, he did not know.

"It can also be-"

"I know what a name is!" He cut the human off with more force than intended. "It's…"

_"[Oh gods, what's my name? What's my name?! Why can't I remember?!]"_

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine! My name's…"

_"[How can I forget my own name?! Oh gods oh gods oh gods, what's my name?!]"_

"Hello?" The human waved his hand around.

_"[Calm down, you can remember it. Just go over what you can remember. It starts with a V, you know that much. Is the first syllable vuh? Veh? Vel?]"_

"Anyone there?"

_"[Ver? I think that's right. Wait, there was a human named Vernon. Am I just remembering wrong?]"_

He saw the look on the human's face, and decided to just screw it.

"Vernon. My name's Vernon."


	2. Chapter 2

"Vernon?" Iorveth raised an eyebrow.

"Yes…?" The mermaid - Vernon - answered, scratching his arm.

"That's…" Iorveth shook his head. "Nevermind. Is that a common mermaid name?"

"I don't know, never made many friends." Vernon visibly deflated at the memory.

"I'm Iorveth."

"Could you say that slower?"

"Ee-your-veth."

"Iorveth." Vernon repeated.

"Yes, Iorveth."

"I like your name." Vernon grinned, flashing his flat, inhuman teeth.

"Thank you. Most people can't even be bothered to pronounce it correctly." Iorveth found himself liking Vernon more and more, despite his somewhat human appearance.

"Oh? Why not?" Vernon asked, tilting his head.

"Racism." Iorveth stated without pizazz.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's see, how do I explain this…?" Iorveth mulled it over for a few seconds, taking into account Vernon's surely limited experience with society. "It's an elven name, and since I'm an elf, dhoines hate me. Therefore, among other things, they don't even try to pronounce my name correctly. Sometimes, they even mutilate it on purpose."

"What's an elf?"

To say that Iorveth was taken aback would be an understatement. He stared at Vernon, eye wide in shock. His mouth gaped open for several long moments before he closed it, jaw clenching immediately. He took a few deep breaths, then he began to explain.

"That's… my race. There are different races among society: human, elf, dwarf, et cetera. Race is determined by genetics, which means you're typically born into one race. Since I'm an elf, Aen Seidhe to be specific, I can live indefinitely, I don't age, and I have pointed ears."

Vernon leaned over to the side, presumably to get a better look at Iorveth's ears. "Huh. So that's why they're… nevermind."

"What?"

"I thought there was something wrong with your ears." After a pause, Vernon added: "Please don't take that the wrong way. I've only seen a few people with pointed ears. I didn't want you to get upset, so I didn't ask! You seem really nice, and I really want you to be my friend, and-"

Iorveth held a finger to Vernon's mouth. "Stop. It's alright."

"So… do you still want to be friends?" Vernon piped up after Iorveth had removed his finger.

Iorveth took one look at Vernon's expression and realized he just couldn't say no. "Yes." He nodded, giving a slight upturn of his lips.

Vernon couldn't help himself. He dove straight towards Iorveth, giving him a big hug. They toppled over, resulting in Iorveth falling onto his back and Vernon on top of him. He fell into a giggling fit, laughing into Iorveth's neck.

"Thank you thank you thank you! It's been so long since I had a friend!" In that moment, Vernon pulled Iorveth into a quick kiss. They remained like that for a few seconds, then Vernon pulled away, absolutely beaming. "Hey, you have nice lips! …Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You just kissed me."

"Yes?"

"You kissed me."

"Was that the wrong thing to do?"

Iorveth brought two fingers to his lips and tenderly touched them. "Usually, people - at least, around here - they don't kiss someone they just met. And not someone they're just friends with."

Vernon's eyes grew wide as his shoulders hunched and his hair grew… bigger? "Oh no! Did I do something bad? I'm so sorry, I didn't know, please don't leave!"

"Vernon."

"I thought it was just something done everywhere, I was so wrong to assume-"

"Vernon."

"Yes?" Vernon's voice cracked, shooting an odd feeling throughout Iorveth's gut.

"It's fine, just ask next time." Iorveth smiled, casually pat Vernon's shoulder.

"I see. [Just ask next time.]" Vernon muttered the last sentence to himself. "So! Now that we're officially friends, do you want to play?"

"Play what?"

"Anything!"

"Hm, a lot of games I played as a child involve running around on land. Why don't we get in the water and splash around?"

"That sounds fun! Come on!" Vernon rolled off the boardwalk and directly into the water, where he made a very large and very loud splash.

"Wait just a few minutes!" Iorveth fumbled at the clasps and folds of his clothing. "Ugh, hate wearing so much."

\-----

Vernon watched with glee as Iorveth finally dived into the river. He took his hands and brought him to the surface, giggling the entire time.

"It took you so long!" Vernon laughed once Iorveth broke the surface. "You need to be faster!"

"Hey," Iorveth panted, a small smile forming on his face. "All that clothing is a precaution."

Vernon threw his head back and guffawed. "I don't even know what that means!"

"Eh, who cares?" Iorveth pushed himself back, making sure he splashed Vernon with each individual movement.

Vernon ducked underwater. Iorveth darted his good eye around, but Vernon was nowhere to be seen. He turned around just in time to see a shadow emerge, then burst out and tackle him. They both fell underwater, where Iorveth half-playfully struggled, then Vernon brought him to the surface. Iorveth spluttered up a mouthful of water, then he laid his head on Vernon's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Vernon asked as he hugged Iorveth tight, giving him plenty of backrubs.

"Yeah, just-" Iorveth coughed. "Can we get closer to land?"

Vernon wordlessly paddled over to the riverbank, keeping Iorveth's head above water. Once he reached it, he laid Iorveth down where the water was shallow to the point that it didn't even reach his ears. Vernon laid on his belly, propped himself up with one elbow, and pet Iorveth's chest with his free hand.

"Any better?"

Iorveth nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Do you want to keep playing? We don't have to, not if you don't want to." Vernon's voice grew quiet and soothing as the expression on his face grew into something Iorveth could not identify.

"Sure, just don't push me under again." Iorveth sat up and scooted into the river.

"I'll be gentle this time!" Vernon followed Iorveth's lead. "I promise! I won't hurt you this time!"

"Please, I won't break if you're a little rough. I actually like roughhousing."


End file.
